Trouble-detecting system in an automatic money dispenser

ABSTRACT

A trouble-detecting system in an automatic money dispenser comprising a first detecting section for detecting a moneydispensing operation of a money-dispensing mechanism thereby to produce a first detecting signal; a second detecting section for detecting the fact that money has been actually dispensed through a money-dispensing outlet thereby to produce a second detecting signal; and a time-lapse counter operated by the first and second detecting signals, thereby to detect trouble in the dispensation of money, at the same time to stop the operation of the moneydispensing mechanism, and to operate an alarm display device.

tlnite States Patent ['19] Shigemori et al.

[ Mar. 5, 1974 TROUBLE-DETECTING SYSTEM IN AN AUTOMATIC MONEY DISPENSER[73] Assignee: Glory Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha,

Hyogo-ken, Japan 22 Filed: se tt2s,1i972 [21] Appl. No.: 292,946

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Stanley H.Tollberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmHolman & Stem [5 7 ABSTRACT Atrouble-detecting system in an automatic money dispenser comprising afirst detecting section for detecting a money-dispensing operation of amoneydispensing mechanism thereby to produce a first detecting signal; asecond detecting section for detecting the fact that money has beenactually dispensed through a money-dispensing outlet thereby to produceSept. 28, 1971 Japan 46-75092 7 .a second detecting signal; and atime-lapse counter [52] Cl 221/2 221/21 operated by the first and seconddetecting signals, [51] In} Cl B65! 43/02 thereby to detect trouble inthe dispensation of [58] Fie'ld /2 21 15 money, at the same time to stopthe operation of the money-dispensing mechanism, and to operate an [56]References Cited alarm display device.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 3,443,675 5/1969Yamamoto et al. 194/4 R 19 TIME'LAPSE 7 coun gn I F w SE PTXY Vcc 1 2SECTION FIRST I DETECTING DRIVING M SECTION SECOND DETECTING 8 SECTJON L(52 l PATENTEI] IMR 5 I974 SHEEV 1 0F 2 TROUBLE-DETECTING SYSTEM IN ANAUTOMATIC MONEY DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to automatic money dispensers of the type which dispenses moneyone by one from a money-stocking section (hereinafter referred to as astocker) and more particularly to a trouble detecting system in amoney-dispensing mechanism of an automatic money dispenser.

In a money-dispensing mechanism of the character referred to above,there is the possibility of failure to dispense money out of the stockerfor reasons such as damaged money or mechanical slippage. I

In the case of dispensation of coins, the failure of a coin-dispensingmechanism is caused, for instance, by the deformation of coins, while inthe case of dispensation of bank-notes, the failure is caused by thenonuniform conditions of bank-notes such as creases, wrinkles, and thelike.

However, in the case when such a failure is temporarily caused bythemoney dispensing mechanism, if the succeeding money-dispensing operationcovers or compensates for the failure, it can be said that the functionor purpose of the money dispenser is not obstructed at all. Therefore,in this case, it is not necessary to detect the failure as a trouble.The present invention has been developed on the basis of this concept.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a first object of theinvention to provide a trouble-detecting system in an automatic moneydispenser which, when its money-dispensing mechanism continuously failsto dispense money detects the failure as a trouble in the automaticmoney dispenser and thereupon operates to activate an alarm displaymeans and to stop the operation of the moneydispensing mechanism.

A second object of the present invention is to provide atrouble-detecting system in an automatic money dispenser which candetect non-restorable troubles such as mechanical troubles in themoney-dispensing mechanism and troubles in the dispensation of money dueto unsatisfactory conditions of the money itself.

A third object of the invention is to provide a troubledetecting systemin an automatic money dispenser comprising: a first detecting sectionadapted to detect a money-dispensing operation thereby to produce afirst detecting signal; a second detecting section adapted to detect theactual dispensation of money thereby to produce a second detectingsignal; and a time-lapse counter which receives the first and seconddetecting signals, whereby in a normal operating period of the moneydispenser, an alarm display section is not activated, and amoney-dispensing mechanism repeats its operation, whereas in an abnormaloperating period ofthe money dispenser the alarm display section isactivated, and the money-dispensing mechanism stops its operation.

The foregoing objects and other objects as well 'as the characteristicfeatures of the invention will become more apparent from the followingdetailed description and the appended claims when read in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated bylike reference symbols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing one example of thetrouble-detecting system according to the invention in an automaticmoney dispenser in which a time-lapse counter comprises a discriminationsection and an output control section;

FIG. 2 is also a schematic block diagram showing another example of thetrouble-detecting system provided, according to the invention, in anautomatic money dispenser which is different in the composition of thetime-lapse counter from the trouble-detecting system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an electrical wiring diagram showing a part of the time-lapsecounter of a further example of the trouble-detecting system accordingto the invention in an automatic money dispenser in which the time-lapsecounter is a modification of the time-lapse counter shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a pulse time chart showing detecting signals applied to thetime-lapse counter of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will bedescribedwith reference to the case where the invention is applied to atroubledetecting system in a bank-note dispensing mechanism of anautomatic bank-note dispenser.

One example of the trouble-detecting system according to the inventionas illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises: a section I for detecting bank-notedispensing operations (hereinafter referred to as the first detectingsection I); a section 2 for detecting the actual dispensations ofbank-notes through a bank-not dispensing outlet (hereinafter referred toas the second detecting section 2); a time-lapse counter 9; an alarmdisplay section 7; and a section 8 for driving a bank-notedispensingmechanism (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as the driving section8).

The first detecting section 1 operates to generate one detecting pulsePa for every bank-note dispensing operation in correlation with thebank-note dispensing mechanism, while the second detecting section 2operates to generate one detecting pulse Pb whenever banknote isdispensed through the banlonote dispensing outlet. The time-lapsecounter 9 comprises a discrimination section 3, and an output controlsection 4 constituted by a gate circuit 5 and a flip-flop circuit 6.

The detecting pulse Pa from the first detecting section I is applied, asa counting input, to the discrimination section 3 which is a two-stagetype quarternary counter, while the detecting pulse Pb from the seconddetecting section 2 is applied, as a resetting input, to thediscrimination section 3. In this case, outputs Q and Q of the twostages of the counter 3 are applied, as discriminating outputs d, to theoutput control section 4. As mentioned above, the output control section4 comprises, the gate circuit 5, which is in the form of an NAND circuitwhich receives the outputs d from the discrimination section 4, and theflip-flop circuit 6 connected to the output of the gate circuit 5. Theoutputs F and F of the flip-flop circuit 6 are fed, as control signals,to the alarm display section 7 and the driving section 8, respectively.

In this connection, it should be noted that the driving section 8carried out its operation when the output F of the flip-flop circuit 6is at a high level, and stops its operation when the output F is at alow level, while the alarm display section 7 performs its display actionwhen the output F of the flip-flop circuit 6 is at a high level, butstops its display when the output F is at a low level.

In the normal operation of the bank-note dispenser, or when bank-notesare being dispensed correctly, the pulse Pa is produced from the firstdetecting section 1 upon operation of the bank-note dispensing mechanismand is applied to the discrimination section 3, where the pulse Pa thusapplied is counted. Thereafter, one bank-note is actually dispensedthrough the bank-note dispensing outlet, and at the same time the pulsePb is produced from the second detecting section 2 thereby to reset thediscrimination section 3.

In other words the discrimination section 3 carries out alternately itscounting and resetting operations every time the bank-note dispensingmechanism repeats its bank-note dispensing operation. Under thiscondition, none of the outputs Q, and Q of the discrimination circuit 3become high (H) in level, and, accordingly, the output of the gatecircuit 5 always remains at a high level. Therefore, the outputs F and Fof the flip-flop 6 are respectively at a low level and at a high level.

Thus, in the normal operation of the automatic banknote dispenser, sincethe output F of the output control section 4 delivered to the drivingsection 8 is at the high level, the driving section 8 carries out itspredetermined operation; that is, the bank-note dispensing mechanismrepeats its bank-note dispensing operation, and since the output F ofthe output control section 4 applied to the alarm display section 7 isat the low level, no alarm display is effected by the alarm displaysection 7.

In contrast, when all of the bank-notes have been dispensed out of abank-note stocker, or when no banknote is attracted by a bank-noteattracting head since no bank-note is dispensed through the bank-notedispensing outlet although the bank-note dispensing mechanism iscarrying out its dispensing motion, the judgement section 3 can carryout its counting operation by receiving the detecting pulse Pa from thefirst detecting section, but it does not receive a pulse Pb.

Thus, when the judgement section successively counts detecting pulses Paup to three, both of the outputs Q, and 0, become high in level. Theoutputs Q, and Q at the high level are applied to the gate circuit 5,thereby producing an output W therefrom. The output W is applied to theflip-flop circuit 6, as a result of which the states of the flip-flopcircuit 6 are changed.

In other words, the output F of the flip-flop circuit 6 is changed fromthe high level to the low level. As a result, the driving section 8stops its predetermined operation while the bank-note mechanism alsostops its bank-note dispensing operation. On the other hand, the outputF of the flip-flop circuit 6 is changed from the low level to the highlevel, and the alarm display section 7 therefore performs its alarmdisplay operation.

In the case when such a trouble as described above has occurred but thetrouble has been eliminated before the first detecting section Iproduces three pulses Pa whereby the bank-note is actually dispensed,the discrimination section 3 will be immediately reset. As a result, thedriving section 8 begins to carry .out its predetermined operation,while the alarm display section 7 stops its alarm display.

In the above-described example, the discrimination section 3 is made inthe form of a quarternary counter, but the number of counter stages tobe employed therein may be selected as required.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the second example of the invention .will bedescribed. As is apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2, thissecond example is different mainly in the composition of the time-lapsecounter from the first example described above. The other components,namely, the first detecting section 1, the second detecting section 2,the alarm display section 7 and the driving section 8 are the same asthose shown in FIG. 1.

The time-lapse counter 9 comprises two two-input NAND gates G, and Gforming an R-S flip-flop circuit, an inverter I, connected to the outputof the flipflop circuit, a diode D, connected to the output of theinverter I,, and a timer which comprises transistors T, and T a resistorr, a resistor R, and a capacitor C. The diode D, is connected to thebase of the transistor T,, and the resistors r is connected between thecollector of the transistor T, and a power source V The resistor R isconnected to the capacitor C which is connected through a resistor tothe transistor T In addition, the driving section 8 is connected to thecollector of the transistor T and an inverter I is connected between thecollector of the transistor T and the alarm display section 7.

The second example of the bank-note dispenser according to the inventionoperates as follows.

In the normal operation of the second example, or when bank-notes arebeing dispensed correctly, the detecting pulse Pa is produced from thefirst detecting section 1 in the same manner as in the first exampledescribed with reference to FIG. 1, thereby to set the R-S flip-flopcircuit G, and G As a result, the flip-flop circuit produces an outputsignal ofa high level. This output signal is changed from the high levelto a low level by the inverter I,, and the transistor T, is thereforekept non-conductive. As a result, the capacitor is charged through theresistors r and R from the power source Vcc.

After production of the detecting pulse Pa, a detecting pulse Pb isproduced from the second detecting section 2 in the same manner as inthe first example described with reference with FIG. 1, thereby to resetthe flip-flop circuit G, and G As a result, the flip-flop circuitproduces an output signal low in level. This output signal is changedfrom the low level to a high level by the inverter I, thereby to makethe transistor T, conductive. Consequently, the capacitor C isdischarged through the resistor R and the transistor T,.

In other words, the capacitor C is alternately charged and dischargedrespectively by the detecting pulses Pa and Pb. However, it should benoted that the time constant obtained by the resistor R and thecapacitor C is determined so that the capacitor C will not make thetransistor T conductive during normal opertion of the bank-notedispenser. Therefore, during normal operation, the collector of thetransistor T is kept at a high level, whereby the alarm display section7 is not activated, but the driving section 8 repeats its predeterminedoperation.

At the time of abnormal operation of the bank-note dispenser asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1, no detecting pulse Pb isproduced from the bank-note detecting signal 2; that is, the transistorT, is kept nonconductive. 'As a result, the capacitor C is continuouslycharged through the resistors r and R until the transistor T becomesconductive, whereby the alarm display section 7 is activated, but thedriving section 8 stops its predetermined operation.

In FIG. 3, there is shown a part of the third example of thetrouble-detecting system according to the invention. This system differsfrom that of the second exam ple shown in FIG. 2 only in that theflip-flop circuit G, and G and the inverter 1, are omitted so thatdetecting signals Pa, and Pb, are applied respectively to the diode D,and a diode D connected also to the base of the transistor "1",.

The detecting signal Pa, is a signal controlled by the bank-notedisensing operation of a bank-note dispenser control section (notshown), and is at a high level during a period when the bank-notedispensing operation is not being'carried out, or during a stand-byperiod, and is at a low level during a period when the bank-notedispensing operation is being carried out, as shown in FIG. 4(a). On theother hand, the detecting signal Pb, is produced from a detectingsection (not shown) similar to the previously described detectingsection 2, as shown in FIG. 4(b).

During normal operation of the third example, when the detecting pulsePa, of the low level is applied through the diode D, to the transistorT,, the transistor T, is non-conductive, whereby the capacitor C ischarged through the resistors r and R. However, the capacitor C issoondischarged by the detecting pulse Pb, of the high level whenever thebank-note is actually dispensed through the bank-note dispensing outlet.In this case, since the time constant R.C is properly determined asdescribed before with reference to FIG. 2 the alarm display section 7 isnot activated, but the driving section repeats its predeterminedoperation.

At the time of abnormal operation of this third example of the bank-notedispenser, since no detecting pulse Pb, of high level is applied throughthe diode D to the transistor T,, the capacitor C is continuouslycharged through the resistors r and R until the transistor T producesits output. As a result, the alarm display section 7 is activatedthereby to perform its alarm display, but the driving section 8 stopsits predetermined operation, whereby the bank-note dispensing mechanismstops its bank-note dispensing operation.

As is apparent from the above description, in the same when thebank-note dispenser fails to dispense the bank-note, this failure can bedetected immediately according to the invention. in. other words, whennonrestorable troubles such as mechanical troubles of the bank-notedispensing mechanism and troubles in the dispensation of bank-notes dueto the bank-notes themselves are caused, or when no bank-note is left inthe stocker, these troubles can be reliably detected whereby they can beindicated by means of the alarm display section. I

While this invention has been described with respect to a few examplesof bank-note dispensers, it goes without saying that the invention canbe applied with equal effectiveness to automatic coin dispensers.

We claim:

1. A trouble-detecting system in a money dispenser having a moneydispensing section for dispensing money from a money-stocking section,said system comprising: a first detecting section for detecting themoney dispensing operation of the money dispensing section thereby toproduce a first detecting signal; a second detecting section fordetecting the dispensation of money through a money-dispensing outletthereby to produce a second detecting signal; and time-lapse countermeans operated by the first and second detecting signals, saidtime-lapse counter means producing a trouble-detecting signal bycounting to a predetermined counting value when the second detectingsignal is not produced in spite of the production of the first detectingsignal, the money dispensing section operating to stop the moneydispensing operation with the aid of the trouble-detecting signal whenno money is dispensed in spite of the repetition of money dispensingoperation.

2. A trouble-detecting system as claimed in claim 1 in which saidtime-lapse counter means is operated by receiving said first detectingsignal and said second detecting signal as a counting input and aresetting input, respectively, the non-application of said seconddetecting signal to said time-lapse counter means within a predeterminedperiod of time being detected as trouble in the money dispenser.

3. A trouble-detecting system as claimed in claim 1 in which saidtime-lapse counter means comprises a discriminating section formed as acounter which receives said first detecting signal and said seconddetecting signal as a counting input and a resetting input,respectively, said discriminating section producing an output whichindicates trouble in the money dispenser when the counting of thediscriminating section has come up to a predetermined counting valuewhile said second detecting pulse has not been applied thereto.

1. A trouble-detecting system in a money dispenser having a moneydispensing section for dispensing money from a moneystocking section,said system comprising: a first detecting section for detecting themoney dispensing operation of the money dispensing section thereby toproduce a first detecting signal; a second detecting section fordetecting the dispensation of money through a money-dispensing outletthereby to produce a second detecting signal; and time-lapse countermeans operated by the first and second detecting signals, saidtime-lapse counter means producing a trouble-detecting signal bycounting to a predetermined counting value when the second detectingsignal is not produced in spite of the production of the first detectingsignal, the money dispensing section operating to stop the moneydispensing operation with the aid of the trouble-detecting signal whenno money is dispensed in spite of the repetition of money dispensingoperation.
 2. A trouble-detecting system as claimed in claim 1 in whichsaid time-lapse counter means is operated by receiving said firstdetecting signal and said second detecting signal as a counting inputand a resetting input, respectively, the non-application of said seconddetecting signal to said time-lapse counter means within a predeterminedperiod of time being detected as trouble in the money dispenser.
 3. Atrouble-detecting system as claimed in claim 1 in which said time-lapsecounter means comprises a discriminating section formed as a counterwhich receives said first detecting signal and said second detectingsignal as a counting input and a resetting input, reSpectively, saiddiscriminating section producing an output which indicates trouble inthe money dispenser when the counting of the discriminating section hascome up to a predetermined counting value while said second detectingpulse has not been applied thereto.